The structural and optoelectronic properties of ZnO nanopillars (ZnO-NPs) grown on Si substrates by the vapor transport deposition method were investigated. In particular, by varying the deposition duration and hence the morphology of the vertically aligned ZnO-NPs, the resultant field emission characteristics were systematically compared. In addition to identifying the advantageous field emission properties exhibited in the pencil-like ZnO-NPs, we observed that by adhering Au nanoparticles on the surface of the ZnO-NPs the turn-on field and the maximum current density can be drastically improved from 3.15 V/mu m and 0.44 mA/cm(2) at 5 V/mu m for the best ZnO-NPs to 2.65 V/mu m and 2.11 mA/cm(2) at 5 V/mu m for Au/ZnO-NPs, respectively. The enhancement of field emission characteristics that resulted from Au-nanoparticle decoration is discussed on the basis of charge-transfer-induced band structure modifications.